Comparison of two quantitative polymerase chain reaction methods for detecting HER2/neu amplification.

Two quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods for HER2/neu gene quantification were evaluated for implementation into a clinical laboratory. Assays were developed using sequence-specific hybridization probes to detect a target (HER2/neu) and a reference gene (beta-globin) simultaneously. One method utilizes real-time quantification while the second uses internal competitors and melting curves to quantify the unknown sample.